On his sovereign jet fitted out with ostrich leather and purchased from some broke mining company for half price during the financial crisis,
Harold Mitchell
sits back in a blue Zegna tracksuit, bright pink socks and shiny black shoes from Harry’s of London.

It is an ensemble exuding a sort of flashy wealth that can be got away with in the cold of South Melbourne, where the family office is just a short walk from Crown casino, but not where he is flying to – the great outback.

Joining him on board is
Stephanie Campbell
, who heads Mitchell’s charitable foundation and
Jane Sale
who, along with husband
Haydn
, manages and has a minority shareholding in the cattle stations Mitchell has been buying over the past few years.

After 3½ hours and a strong tailwind the jet lands in the winter warmth of Halls Creek, the stepping stone to the rugged Kimberley in the far north of Western Australia. The entourage disembarks while the 71-year-old Mitchell (ranked No. 124 on the 2013 BRW Rich 200 list, with a fortune of $370 million) bumbles about on board changing into an old faded green shirt and jeans, more practical clothes for the hot, dusty tour of his most recent property acquisition – the sprawling 177,100-hectare Margaret River Station with its wide-open spinifex grass plains and rocky escarpments.

Three helicopters have been ordered, including Haydn Sale’s zippy little mustering chopper with no doors. They will be ferrying everyone to inspect the new station before flying off to the main station and homestead, Yougawalla, further south. Halfway there the helicopters are set down by a billabong so the party can have a bite to eat and enjoy the quiet. Mitchell asks questions about the property he has never seen before.

“What's the line?" he says in his warbling voice, pointing to a crumpled, torn map of the property. “That's the main highway," Haydn Sale replies.

“Main highway? Goes right through?" Mitchell speaks as if he is taking notes.

“Yeah. It gives the property more value because we can turn off cattle during the wet season when others can't."